Power feed sander

ABSTRACT

The power feed sander comprises a frame assembly including a frame and a table, a feed assembly including suitably driven rollers mounted transversely above the table on the frame, and a carriage assembly suitably mounted to the frame and including a sanding subassembly controllable as to its downward sanding pressure by an inertia plate.

United States Patent 11 1 Richardson 1 July 23, 1974 POWER FEED SANDER 2,463,750 3/1949 Curtin 51/78 2,925,691 2/1960 K bbl 51 78 [76] inventor: l fl Rchardmni 3,012,381 12/1961 Zimm ermanm. 51/724 x Merldlan, Idaho 33642 3,677,166 6/1972 White 51/99 x 22 F1 d: A .31 1972 1 Primary Examiner-Donald G. Kelly 1 1 PP N04 285,411 Attorney, Agent, or F irm-John W. Kraft;

Charles L. Kraft, ll Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. NO. 235,979, Mar. 20, ABSTRACT 1972. The power feed sander comprises a frame assembly including a frame and a table, a feed assembly includ- 1/33 R, 5 ing suitably driven rollers mounted transversely above 5 3 the table on the frame, and a carriage assembly suit- [51] Int. Cl B24b 7/10, 1324b 7/00 ably mounted to the frame and including a sanding Field of Search 51/33 74 76 subassembly controllable as to its downward sanding 215 273 pressure by an inertia plate.

[56] References Cited 4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,219,038 3/1917 Philippi 51/99 X 1,893,424 1/1933 Luzardo 51/78 is ms: 1

. I 1 POWER FEED SANDER FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to sanders and, more particularly, to sanders including a frame operable to feed materials thereto. This is a continuation-in-part application of pending prior application Ser. No. 235,979 filed on Mar. 20, 1972 of Raymond C. Richardson for Power Feed Sander.

DESCRlPTlON or THE PRIOR ART Sanders commonly used and employed have included manually actuated sanding machines and manually held sanding machines. Manually actuated sanding machines require extensive physical labor, and, characteristically, lack-uniformity and precision in the product. Mechanically held sanding machines have been mounted'on a variety of frame means. Sanding apparatus characteristically lack compatible feeding means to the .type of sanding mechanism employed. Material,

, such as board or the like, is permitted by the structure to shift in the mechanical sander, or chatter as it is called. i

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to providemechanical feed means for materials, such as boards and the like, and mechanical sanding means.

It is a further object of this invention to provide mechanical sanding means operable to suitably guide and pressuremeans to suitably control the input material.

These and other objects shall become apparent from the description following, it being understood that modifications may be. made without affecting the teachings of the inventionhere set out.

SUMMARYOF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a right side elevational view of the power feed sander of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus of the FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED- EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings and, more particularly, to the FIGS. 1 and 2, the power feed sander of this invention is shown to advantage, and generally identified by the numeral l0.'the sander comprises a frame assembly 11, a feed assembly 12 and a carriage assembly 13. The frame assembly 11 provides a framework structure for the feed assembly 12 and the carriage assembly 13, and includes a chassis or frame14 and a material-handling table 15. The chassis 14 of the frame assembly 11 is formed by suitable, upstandingly disposed cornerposts l6 and a pair of rectilinearly disposed top bars or beams 17 fastened to the uppermost terminal ends of the respective posts 16. The two pairs of posts 16 and the top beams 17 are held by suitable transverse crossties 18. The table includes a pair of rectilinearly disposed table-support beams 19 and a rectilinearly disposed platform 20. The table-support beams 19 are'fastened substantially midway of the interior terminal side of the respective posts 16. The platform 20 is a suitable flat decking which is distally narrower than the interior transverse dimension of the posts 16. The platform 20 is fastened by means of horizontally, transversely disposed crossties 21 fastened to .the support beams 19, as shown in the FIG. 2. It has been found to advantage toinclude a pair of upstandingly disposed guide rails 22 fastened along each of the terminal sides of the platform 20. The rails 22 are operable to guide material, such as boards and the like, in a predetermined rectilinear path. Referring again to the FIG. 1, the table-support beams 19 and the platform 20 project forwardly and rearwardly from the terminal ends of the frame 14 to provide a material-handling area for input feeding and output recovery.

Referring again to the FIGS. 1 and 2, the feed assembly 12 includes a frame 23 and material-feeding rollers 24. The feed frame 23 is generally disposed within the frame 14, substantially around the table 15. The frame 23 includes upstandingly disposed comer posts 25 and rectilinear and transverse crossties 26 which are suitably fastened to the respective comer posts 25. The uppermost terminal ends of the respective rectilinear pairs of corner posts 25 are connected by a pair of horizontally, rectilinearly disposed top bars 27. The feed assembly 12 is dependently mounted, by means of the corner posts 25 substantially at their respective midpoints, to the interior terminal sides of the horizontal table-support beams 19 within the frame 14. The corner posts 25 may be suitably fastened to the tablesupport beams 19 by means of nuts and bolts 28 disposed through suitable holes 29 in the respective members. It has been found to advantage to provide a multiplicity of holes 29 in the corner posts 25 to provide a number of levels for the feed assembly 12 over the table 15, to allow work pieces of varying thicknesses to be sanded. I

The feeding rollers 24 are operable to force materials, such as boards and the like, over the platform 20 through the sander 10. The rollers 24 comprise a pair of transversely disposed rollers 30 and 30' mounted by means of journal bearings to the uppermost pair of rectilinear crossties 26 disposed distally above the platform 20. The roller 30 is mounted distally from the forward terminal end, and the roller 30 is mounted distally from the rearward terminal end. The materialfeeding rollers 24 are driven in a rearward direction of rotation by a suitable motor 31 through drive means 32. The motor 31 may be mounted below the platform 20 on the lowermost pair of transverse crossties 26 of the frame 23. The rollers 24 are covered with a suitable knurled resilient material, such as rubber.

The carriage assembly 13 includes a sanding subassembly 33 and an inertia plate 34. The carriage assembly 13 is dependently mounted by means of pivotally mounted bars 35. The bars 35 are mounted distally from one of their terminal ends by means of bearing sleeves 36, as shwon in the FIG. 2, to the top beams 17 of the frame assembly 11 distally within the corner posts 16. Thelowermost terminal ends of the mounting bars 35 are connected by a pair of pivotally mounted, horizontally and rectilinearly disposed channel members 37. It is to be understood that the center of gravity of the carriage assembly 13, suspended in this manner at rest, is substantially central within the frame 14. The carriage assembly 13 may rest at its point of forwardmost travel on a suitable stop 38. The stop 38 may be fastened to the rearward terminal side of one of the forward corner posts 16, so as to contact the forward side of one of the carriage channel members 37. The carriage assembly 13 is operable to ride in a substantially horizontal plane rearwardly with respect to the chassis 14. The carriage assembly 13 is observed to move rearwardly and simultaneously rise, hereinafter later described.

The dynamic resistance of the displacement of the carriage assembly 13 with respect to frame assembly 11 is controllable by means of the inertia plate 34. The inertia plate 34 may include a flat board 39 of a preselected mass, and is fastened to the uppermost terminal ends of the bars 35. The inertia plate 34 is pivotally mounted on the bars 35, so as to ride distally forward of the center of gravity of the carriage assembly 13. When it is at rest, and to displace the plate 34 forwardly as the channel members 37 are displaced rearwardly and upwardly, as set out above, the inertia characteristic of the carriage assembly 13 may be selectively changed by selectively reducing or adding mass to the inertia plate 34. 1

The sanding activity of this invention is accomplished by the sanding subassembly 33. The sanding subassembly 33 includes a cylindrically shaped sanding drum 40 which is mounted transversely in a housing 41, such that the drum is disposed between the rollers 24. The drum 40 is driven in a forward directionof rotation, with respect to the chassis 14, by a motor 42 whichis mounted substantially above the drum 40 to the housing 41. It is to be understood that, while a pair of motors 31 and 421have been described, a single motor with suitable drive. means may be used to accomplish an equivalent result. The sanding subassembly 33 may also include a hood and vacuum 43 operable to collect and to carry away dust.

In operation, a work piece, such as a board (not shown), may be slid over the platform until the forwardmost terminal end of the work piece engages the forward roller 30. The roller is operable to drive material in a rearward direction, while, simultaneously, the guides 22 direct the work piece in a predetermined, rectilinear direction, indicated by the directional arrows in the FIG. 1. The rearward roller 30' may then engage the work piece and drive the work piece rearwardly, and continue to do so when the rearwardmost terminal end of the work piece has passed rearwardly of the roller 30. When the forward terminal end of the work piece engages the drum 40 of the sander subassembly 33, the carriage assembly 13 is caused to be displaced rearwardly and upwardly with respect to the platform 20, simultaneously causing the inertia plate 34 to move forwardly. After the drum 40 has discharged the rearward terminal end of the work piece, the center of gravity of the carriage assembly 13 tends to return to a forward position by rearward displacement of the inertia plate 34. At full rest, the forwardmost terminal ends of the channel members 37 contact the rearward terminal side of the stops 38.

Having thus described in detail a preferred apparatus which embodies the concepts and principles of the invention and which accomplishes the various objects, purposes and aims thereof, it is to be appreciated and will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many physical changes could be made in the apparatus without altering the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. Hence, it is intended thatthe scope of the invention be limited only to the extent indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A power feed sander comprising a frame assembly including a frame, said frame having suitable upstandingly disposed comer posts, a pair of rectilinearly disposed top beams, said top beams being fastened to the uppermost terminal ends of said corner posts; and a table having a pair of horizontally, rectilinearly disposed table-support beams fastened substantially midway on the interior terminal sides of said corner posts and a platform; a feed assembly including a feed frame, said feed frame comprising suitable upstandingly disposed corner posts, a pair of top bars fastened rectilinearly at the uppermost terminal ends of said feed corner posts and suitable rectilinear and transverse crossties, said feed frame being mounted substantially at the midpoints of said feed .corner posts to the interior terminal sides of said table-support beams between said frame corner posts, and suitably driven, transverse material-feeding rollers, said rollers being mounted to said feed assembly top bars distally above said platform; and a carriage assembly, said carriage assembly being dependently mounted to said top beams of said frame assembly by means of pivotally mounted bars, said carriage assembly including an inertia plate pivotally mounted to the uppermost terminal ends of said mounting bars and a sanding subassembly having a suitable housing pivotally mounted to the lowermost terminal ends of said mounting bars, said sanding subassembly including a transversely disposed sanding drum, said drum being disposed in said housing, distally above said platform and distally between said feed rollers, said sanding drum being driven by a motor and suitable drive means carried on said housing above said drum.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said rollers are driven by a motor mounted below said platform on crossties of said carriage frame, and wherein said sanding drum is driven by a suitable motor mounted on said carriage frame above said platform.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 including a stop disposed to the rearward side of one of said forward corner posts of said frame assembly, said stop being operable to contact the forward terminal end of one of the channel members of said carriage assembly.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 including a hood and vacuum, said hood and vacuum being operable to collect dust produced by said sanding drum and to carry away said dust from said sander. 

1. A power feed sander comprising a frame assembly including a frame, said frame having suitable upstandingly disposed corner posts, a pair of rectilinearly disposed top beams, said top beams being fastened to the uppermost terminal ends of said corner posts; and a table having a pair of horizontally, rectilinearly disposed table-support beams fastened substantially midway on the interior terminal sides of said corner posts and a platform; a feed assembly including a feed frame, said feed frame comprising suitable upstandingly disposed corner posts, a pair of top bars fastened rectilinearly at the uppermost terminal ends of said feed corner posts and suitable rectilinear and transverse crossties, said feed frame being mounted substantially at the midpoints of said feed corner posts to the interior terminal sides of said table-support beams between said frame corner posts, and suitably driven, transverse material-feeding rollers, said rollers being mounted to said feed assembly top bars distally above said platform; and a carriage assembly, said carriage assembly being dependently mounted to said top beams of said frame assembly by means of pivotally mounted bars, said carriage assembly including an inertia plate pivotally mounted to the uppermost terminal ends of said mounting bars and a sanding subassembly having a suitable housing pivotally mounted to the lowermost terminal ends of said mounting bars, said sanding subassembly including a transversely disposed sanding drum, said drum being disposed in said housing, distally above said platform and distally between said feed rollers, said sanding drum being driven by a motor and suitable drive means carried on said housing above said drum.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said rollers are driven by a motor mounted below said platform on crossties of said carriage frame, and wherein said sanding drum is driven by a suitable motor mounted on said carriage frame above said platform.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 including a stop disposed to the rearward side of one of said forward corner posts of said frame assembly, said stop being operable to contact the forward terminal end of one of the channel members of said carriage assembly.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 including a hood and vacuum, said hood and vacuum being operable to collect dust produced by said sanding drum and to carry away said dust from said sander. 